06/05/2006
NEWS STORY
The morning's free practice session hailed mixed fortunes for the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM. Takuma Sato encountered a brake related issue, whilst Franck Montagny was able to find a reasonable set-up for his SA05. However, during the first session of Qualifying in the afternoon 'timing problems' and a Red Flag red herring caused confusion along the pit lane and out on the race track.
Takuma Sato: "We had a difficult start to the morning. We needed a lot of work to improve the balance of the car, but then as we suffered a brake related issue which required some time to investigate we were unable to complete the running we needed. The guys did a good job in solving this problem and we made a set-up change, then I was happier with the car balance for Qualifying. It is a shame that there was some confusion about the Red Flag situation during my second Qualifying attack, but I am feeling positive about tomorrow's race."
Franck Montagny: "During the practice session this morning we found quite a good set-up for the car and continued with it in the afternoon, making only a small modification. But we encountered many problems during the Qualifying session. Firstly, when I had to stop at the FIA weight scales, there was a problem with the starter so during this time my tyres were out of the blankets and were getting cold. When I re-started and put on new tyres five minutes later, the red flag situation came up, so I could not make a lap time. It is a little disappointing as this was my first Qualifying with the team, but there were no major problems with the car and I am looking forward to the race tomorrow."
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal: "It was a very frustrating qualifying session and it felt like it ended before we could actually start. The red flag was out when we needed to go out at the end of first 15 minutes and Franck and Taku couldn't really have a good attack. Taku went out with a new set of tyres and when he was ready to make his quick lap with the second set, the red flag was out. As both SAF1 Team cars did not finish in Imola I hope that we will have another two-car finish in the race tomorrow."